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Wishes for a New Year

Will 2009 bring fewer rib-eyes? (Photo: Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times)

At the close of one year, we look back, and at the start of the next, we look forward.

If I were allowed a bag of restaurant wishes for 2009, what would be in it? What would I ask to see more of — and less of — when I go out to eat?

I’d like to see fewer rib-eyes, and not because I have anything against this cut of beef. In fact I adore it.

But the hefty rib-eye, often sized and priced for two diners, has of late emerged as a default main course on too many upscale menus, reflecting a caution and lack of imagination that I’m not wild about. It threatens to become to the entrée category what raw tuna has long been to the appetizer category: a way that restaurants hedge their bets; an item that somehow transcends all ethnic boundaries, working its way into the cuisines of every nation.

In recent months I happened across a rib-eye for two at Txikito, even though this new Spanish restaurant is otherwise focused on tapas and small plates. And I happened across a rib-eye for two at Pranna, which is putatively devoted to the cooking of India, Vietnam and lands in that part of the world.

Enough already.

I’d like to see fewer semi-circular booths, which also proliferated in 2008. They look great: no argument there. But they’re not all that user-friendly.

If the booths are big, at least two of the diners in a group of four wind up sitting so far apart from each other that they can’t talk. If the booths are small, everyone’s bunched together, looking longingly at the outer, rounded edge of the table where there isn’t any booth and wishing it were possible to put and use a chair there. (The way the restaurant is set up, there typically isn’t room.)

I’d like to see more cookie plates among dessert options. The cookie plate is user-friendly, and strikes me as perfect both for budget-conscious and weight-conscious times.

I had a good one recently at West Branch, Tom Valenti’s new restaurant on the Upper West Side, and it reminded me of how well the cookie plate works as a way for two to four diners to have that little something sweet they crave at dinner’s end without committing to a full dessert.

Restaurateurs, bring on the cookie plate.

I’d like to see restaurateurs show a little more daring on the Upper East Side, and a little more faith in it.

In 2008 the Upper West Side came on strong, and if I were wishing in a purely selfish manner, I’d root for a continuation of that trend. The Upper West Side is my neighborhood, and over the last three weeks, to my considerable delight, I’ve walked to and from no fewer than four restaurants I was checking out for work: West Branch, Bar Bao, the relocated Kefi and Salumeria Rosi.

But that only highlights for me how under-served and shortchanged the Upper East Side is. It has restaurants galore, but not many of the ones that have opened over the last few years showcase the work of chefs as admired and closely watched as Valenti, Michael Psilakis (Kefi) and Cesare Casella (Rosi).

Hell’s Kitchen and the Theater District could use some help, too. I’d like to have a better, longer answer to friends’ and acquaintances’ questions about where to eat before or after the show.

I’d like to see less pork belly, only because we’re well beyond some fatty saturation point now, and more lamb belly, because it’s fantastic, too.

I’d like to see less pinot grigio and more chenin blanc.

I’d like to see more restaurants in the spirit of the Fatty Crab and Cabrito, to name two: places made for people eager to dive into, and even get a little messy with, food that’s not the least bit bashful.

I’d like to see the opening of a steakhouse that truly does and balances it all: top-notch steaks; all the testosterone you want in a steakhouse without so much that it’s suffocating; an environment that’s classy without being slick and comfy without being frumpy; a menu that hits the highlights while showing just a few glimmers of individuality; a wine list with sophisticated choices but not stratospheric prices. (So many New York steakhouses seem to ask you to make some concession: they’re either too assembly-line big or too brightly lighted or have terrible wine lists or do nothing but the steaks well or do everything well except the steaks.)

I’d like to see restaurateurs show a little more sense and mercy when it comes to deciding how many seats can be wedged into a given space. While I’m fine with trading away some comfort for a lower price point — that’s the inevitable and understandable name of the game — I’m increasingly noticing seating arrangements that make me gape and laugh.

In Salumeria Rosi, there’s a short ledge of sorts inside the door with stools at it; if the restaurant is putting anyone above the age of 6 there, it’s a joke. Rosi also has a two-top wedged shoved against a column that I can’t imagine anyone finding at all appealing.

When I was looking at it and reflecting on similarly cramped scenes noticed in other recently opened establishments, I wondered if, henceforth, restaurants that don’t squeeze customers into preposterous crannies are going to start advertising “free-range dining.”

May I add — I would like more restaurants with less pretensions. Dining out should be a happy experience for all — cooks, service staff and paying diners included. These days, it seems the New York restaurant scene is all about one-upmanship, whether it’s an ethnic dive or a fancy French bistro. This is so inappropriate, especially in these hard times. Back to basics please.

Wow, Frank, didn’t you know you have so many pent-up feelings. I totally agree on all counts. Dump the Pinot Grigio (what could be more innocuous?) and aside from Chenin Blanc add more Riesling in its various dry to off-dry guises. And you know what, I want to see more extensive variety of soup dishes on the menu, this is an untapped entree.

— More restaurants offering small plates, half-portions or appetizer sizes of some of the entrees. Union Square Cafe very quietly lets you order half-portions of most of their entrees and it results in a much more satisfying, less stuffed-by-the-end feeling.

I share your wish for the “steakhouse that does it all,” but I don’t think we’ll see it in 2009. It is hard to take risks in a steakhouse, because the high cost of their signature ingredient (aged prime beef) forces the restaurant into a high price structure. That’s probably why so many steakhouses follow a cookie-cutter format, especially as it usually works. You don’t see many steakhouse failures, though I wonder whether that will finally change, as the market finally shakes out the excesses of a steakhouse glut over the last several years.

Places like Quality Meats, BLT Steak/Prime, Craftsteak, Quality Meats, Kobe Club, V Steakhouse, Porter House, and Hanson’s Primehouse were all attempts to break the steakhouse cliché. A couple of those places are pretty good, while a couple of others were failures. But I don’t think anyone has really figured out how to “do it all” without turning into another V Steakhouse.

Here, here! to the comment about the Upper East Side. I’ve lived there for over a decade and really love the neighborhood (hard to believe for some, I know) but I am very tired of the mediocre food. Please, Restaurant Owners and Chefs, we need you on the UES! Now if Blue Ribbon would only open in that empty space on the corner of 79th and 1st….

Re: the rib-eye. In almost every group dining out you can count on there being at least one diner who isn’t adventurous. Thus, restaurants need the rib-eye or any other standard to make everyone happy. It makes a happier group when everyone is satisfied.

keep the $35 prix fixe dinners coming; a trend of which new yorkers won’t tire. btw, the ubiquity of pork belly isn’t the issue but the mediocrity of it in so many restaurants. it’s still the most decadent cut of swine… only if it melts in your mouth.

It is going to be an interesting year. I was walking around the East Village on Saturday night noticing the restaurants and how full or empty they were.

It seemed that the smaller joints were packed (Xunta, Perbacco, Terrior, In Vino) in that sort of, “trading away some comfort for a lower price point,” and saw that the bigger rooms in the hood like Hearth and EU damn near empty.

After reading the review for Le Cirque: A Table In Heaven (fun film to watch) in the NYT there was a mention of another documentary coming in the near future about the threat to the big dinning rooms of our wonderful city and their future considering economy.

Part of me believes that the Luxury restaurants will always be a part of NYC but maybe not.

Is this the year of the intimate setting? Small plates done right? Wine list with informative staff? Cozy and affordable with well thought out menu items?

The rib eye is a terrific piece of meat. I eat it often…at home. When I dine out I want something I can’t or won’t make at home. My broiler does just a good a job as any restaurant. and it’s dead simple. The price of the cab I pair with it is way better too.